MINI : Rocketman Concept set to land at Geneva Motor Show

MINI may have delved deep into Sir Elton John’s back catalogue for the name of their latest concept car which will land a next week’s Geneva Motor Show but the Rocketman Concept may just be a pointer to the new mini MINI which many Automotive Industry insiders expect to be part of the all-new, third-generation MINI family.

The Rocketman Concept’s dimensions are L: 3419mm, W: 1907mm and H: 1398mm or about 304mm shorter than the current MINI Hatch but around 365mm longer than Sir Alec Issigonis’ original 1959 Mini. However, whilst those dimensions might be a step closer to the classic Mini’s, the Rocketman Concept adopts a Toyota iQ-like 3+1 seating arrangement.

MINI, though, claims that the Rocketman Concept can accommodate four adults and there are three seating layouts. The front two seats move as far back as necessary and the instrument cluster also moves if only the driver and one passenger are in the car while, if a third passenger sits in the rear, the front passenger seat slides forward to provide more legroom in the back. A basic seat made of moulded carbonfibre and located behind the driver allows a fourth passenger to squeeze into the car for short journeys – but, in practice, that will obviously depend upon the driver’s height!

The MINI Rocketman Concept’s doors are double-hinged and so provide a wide opening while the sills form part of the doors which also aids access to the interior. The car’s boot consists of two parts: the upper section being a conventionial roof-hinged hatch and the lower being a drawer. The latter slides out up to 350mm from the body and, in an echo of the original Mini’s drop-down bootlid, the car can be driven with the drawer open – that allows skis, snowboards and other bulky sports equipment to be carried in special holders. However, whether the trick doors and the drawer survive into production remains to be seen…

This latest in a growing line of MINI Concepts has been built around a carbonfibre monocoque chassis similar to that used for parent company BMW’s i3 EV citycar which will also be on show in Geneva – that reduces weight but, unlike on the BMW i3 EV, MINI has left the carbonfibre exposed around the grille and front apron. A carbonfibre spaceframe has been used for the car’s roof which features an otherwise clear panel bearing a Union Jack.

The exterior design language of the Rocketman Concept hints at what can be expected from the next-generation MINI range – take particular note, then, of the more pronounced shaping of the front wings and bonnet, the LED-rimmed headlights and the new front graphic which combines the grille and driving lamps in a single unit.

MINI say that the Rocketman Concept will have a powertrain package capable of returning 94mpg but have otherwise been pretty tight-lipped on the subject of engines and transmissions. However, AROnline reckons that any production model will probably use the BMW Group’s forthcoming range of three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

The first model in the new, third-generation MINI range will be the MY13 Hatch but the 3 door and 5 door versions of that model along with the new Clubman, Convertible and Countryman are all thought likely to hit MINI showrooms before any production version of the Rocketman Concept – that will probably appear in around five year’s time as a MY16 model.

Clive claims that his interest in the BMC>MG story dates back to his childhood in the 1960s when the family’s garage premises were leased to a tenant with an Austin agency. However, back in the 1920s and 1930s, his grandmother was one of the country’s first female Garage Proprietors so cars probably run in his genes! Admits to affairs with Alfa Romeos, but has more recently owned an 06/06 MG TF 135 and then a 15/64 MG3 Style… Clive, who was AROnline’s News Editor for nearly four years, stood down from that role in order to devote more time to various Motor Racing projects but still contributes articles on as regular basis as his other commitments permit.

In all seriousness, if this thing does make it to production in some form with the dimensions quoted, then it will be aiming at a niche market. There is no doubt it will do very well in that niche market due to the marketing skills of its builders.

Anyway, aside from that old chestnut ‘safety/NCAP etc’, MINI needs to address the efficiency of its use of space in its cars, which I believe is actually worse than the classic Mini’s (when seen as a % of the car’s overall size).

I responded to Paul’s post (with no offence intended, apologies if taken the wrong way) in an effort to make the point that BMW are not in the habit of making their models smaller as they evolve – I would be stunned if this DID make it to market with the current dimensions.

The MINI Concept was much more the size of the original but the final product was a good bit bigger even though it retained a ‘look’ of the classic.

Yes, the Rocketman has a lot of clever ideas but they’re not the most practical. A production version would be fine as City car or iQ challenger. However, as another mainstream model in the MINI catalogue, I’m not so sure.

Paul T :@Paul
Indeed, compare current BMW 3 and 5 Series with their original incarnations then the Clubman, Countryman etc. BMW do not have a track record of making things smaller.

Name any model by any manufacturer where a later version was smaller than an earlier version. They all get bigger as they go through their lives; it’s not exclusive to BMW. Manufacturers seem to work on the principle that increasing size equals progress.

This is so difficult: Heart says ‘but it ain’t a Mini’, Head says ‘WOW!’ There are so many great ideas in this car and, if it was on sale, it would be a huge success because there is a massive niche market out there.

Indeed, as we all know, love them or loathe them, BMW MINIs sell and not just here or the EU, just go on a US site like Autoblog and you will see the huge following over the pond and this is from a country where many drivers traditionally buy massive V8 pick ups etc.

I want to hate but I can’t – sorry, it’s far too clever and so much fun.

Merlin Milner :
Hmmm. Combining the sill and door can mean that getting out when parked by a kerb will be interesting! The rear seating arrangement seems a little odd.

A similar type of door works okay on proper Saab 900s… and keeps your legs clean too!

HA! , Yeah… but I like the 6 inch clean patch I have on my sills – it reminds me the car,s black! The strangest thing about that is, though, I’ve never looked at my trousers and thought “Tut, look at that muck from my sills?” Has anyone, ever?

Robert Leitch :
I think I’ll give the BINI stand a wide berth at Geneva next month.

The sound of barrels being scraped sets my nerves on edge.

Some would never have anything positive to say unless the classic Mini was re-introduced complete with its original A-Series engine – not that many of those eager to knock anything new to do with the MINI appear to have actually gone out and bought classic Minis in great numbers whilst they were still in production…

It looks gorgeous – if Rover had penned that design we would all be pouring praise over it.

The Rocketman Concept maybe slightly larger that the original Mini (who cares?), but it has lots of character and a nippy but frugal engine. It is lovely – if only it had been brought out first, then we would have had nothing to complain about. Let’s hope it makes it to market.

One of the main criticisms of the new MINI was it’s increasingly larger size and now that there’s a signal of intent from BMW that they are going to produce something as close as is possible (in this day and age) to the original’s concept, it’s time for some to think up new (and, in some cases, quite sinister) ways to complain!

Yeesh! Some of the contributors to these forums sadden me – would it be preferable for the the Mini name to pass in to history the same way that so many other once famous British marques have? Aren’t BMW doing anything right?

By the way, this isn’t just a reaction to the comments on this site – it’s just the general tone from contributors on all websites today which has got me riled. I’m venting my anger here in the hope that some AROnline readers will understand.

I somehow think we won’t be seeing anything like this in production – carbonfibre for a mainstream production car? No, not for a long while yet as the cost is too prohibitive.

However, the idea of a mini MINI is likely to appear as the cost of motoring goes up and they try and steal sales from the likes of Fiat’s 500 and the Ford Ka. BMW have realised that you can only upsize the MINI so much before it looks stupid and hits the sales of their own brand.

I think this is an absolutely great car and hope it makes it to market!!! It looks classy and I even like the name.

BMW seem to love milking the Mini heritage and, with this car, they ought to take it to the next level by incorporating a rear subframe that can be changed at home every few weeks and offer grp arches that look cock-eyed when pop-riveted on (and, of course, drilled ally window winder handles). Oh, and to finish off, they could offer a window sticker that says ‘100% Munich! No brummie content THANK GOD’ next to a little picture of a few spanners and a sandwich.

Paul T :@Paul
Indeed, compare current BMW 3 and 5 Series with their original incarnations then the Clubman, Countryman etc. BMW do not have a track record of making things smaller.

Name any model by any manufacturer where a later version was smaller than an earlier version. They all get bigger as they go through their lives; it’s not exclusive to BMW. Manufacturers seem to work on the principle that increasing size equals progress.

The current Mazda 2, but I take your general point about cars getting bigger. I claim my prize and will pick up my anorak on the way out…

I think I am going to cry – and there’s nothing new here before you all start bouncing around ecstatically…

Two part bootlid – Hillman Imp/Land Rovers and Range Rovers.
Double hinge doors – A concept nicked of the Renault Avantime and Vel Satis – to name just two.
Rear light clusters – nicked off last generation Renault Laguna.
Seating arrangment – done before and downright dangerous to boot…

To be honest, this is the last straw – I’m not even going to bother commenting on MINI stories any more. Watching what they’ll come up with next is like watching a zombie flogging a dead horse – an exercise in utter, utter pointlessness.

Vava1 :I very much doubt this would be aimed at the sort of grumpy old duffer who follows AROnline – as is evident from the previous remarks.
The car has a huge element of ‘cool’ – people will actually want to be seen in it.
Practicality? Since when did that come into the equation?!
Fashion sells cars. Simples!

😀

Nicely put! I’m sure the flat-cap, flat-earth generation Me/Jonsers et al who think even nostalgia ain’t what it used to be haven’t a clue what turns on Gen-Ys and Gen-Zs and why they don’t care about utterly lifeless steering, zero visibility etc. but love funky tWatPods and other funky stuff but don’t actually know that “funky” means “disgusting”…

The sort of dour, Issi-box that would otherwise have to be made today would only sell to the old and terminally confused. That sounds like a rather familiar story.

Anyway, if it helps build MINI into the success the original wasn’t (there has to be a profit somewhere) then it’s something to look forward to, for all our sakes, especially those in Cowley, or Muenchen West or whatever it’s called this week.

There might even have been a few of the old Brits involved in designing the damned thing.

Paul T :
@Paul
Indeed, compare current BMW 3 and 5 Series with their original incarnations then the Clubman, Countryman etc. BMW do not have a track record of making things smaller.

Name any model by any manufacturer where a later version was smaller than an earlier version. They all get bigger as they go through their lives; it’s not exclusive to BMW. Manufacturers seem to work on the principle that increasing size equals progress.

I used BMW as a specific example as they build the MINI – keeping it ‘in house’ so to speak. However, you seem to have found fault with my post just for the sake of it.

Thanks for the ‘correction’ – a salient point would be appreciated next time, though.

Jemma :
I think I am going to cry – and there’s nothing new here before you all start bouncing around ecstatically…

Two part bootlid – Hillman Imp/Land Rovers and Range Rovers.
Double hinge doors – A concept nicked of the Renault Avantime and Vel Satis – to name just two.
Rear light clusters – nicked off last generation Renault Laguna.
Seating arrangment – done before and downright dangerous to boot…

To be honest, this is the last straw – I’m not even going to bother commenting on MINI stories any more. Watching what they’ll come up with next is like watching a zombie flogging a dead horse – an exercise in utter, utter pointlessness.

Jemma :
I think I am going to cry – and there’s nothing new here before you all start bouncing around ecstatically…

Two part bootlid – Hillman Imp/Land Rovers and Range Rovers.
Double hinge doors – A concept nicked of the Renault Avantime and Vel Satis – to name just two.
Rear light clusters – nicked off last generation Renault Laguna.
Seating arrangment – done before and downright dangerous to boot…

To be honest, this is the last straw – I’m not even going to bother commenting on MINI stories any more. Watching what they’ll come up with next is like watching a zombie flogging a dead horse – an exercise in utter, utter pointlessness.

What complete drivel from start to finish!

I agree – it is not where the ideas come from (after all I am pretty sure that the internal combustion engine and pneumatic tyres are not new), but the execution that matters. This is a visually arresting concept which also gives clues to a future production model. BMW have kept the MINI fresh throughout their custodianship of the brand, unlike the previous owners who let the Mini stagnate into a forty year old curiosity.

It saddens me that some people continue to post this anti-BMW ‘Clarkson inspired drivel’ when BMW are actually succeeding where BMC/BLMC/ARG failed.

Big up the MINI – it is a sales success which provides valuable employment in the UK.

I reckon that, if anyone on here is “anti-BMW,” it’s unlikely that they are inspired by some wally off Top Gear. It’s probably more likely that they remember what BMW did to the British motor industry by asset-stripping and disposing of Rover in the way they did.

What BMW have done during what you so quaintly describe as their “custodianship of the brand” is to exploit it without so much as a single nod to what the original concept of the Issigonis Mini was all about.

The entire car industry seems to have forgotten what Issigonis’ Mini was, which was an honest, if radical, answer to the Suez Crisis. This collective amnesia is rather a shame as the twin spectres of peak oil and climate change necessitate a similarly radical vision today.

Unfortunately, the industry offers us only the badge-engineered desecration of once great marques (R.I.P Lancia?) and sorry little Far Eastern offerings with red octagons on the front. Oh, please!

Yes, Wilko, you’re right about BMW’s custodianship – witness the ‘Clubmunter’ and the ‘Huntryman’. That said, the Rocketman Concept is better, if still not truly Mini-sized, despite their claims. This concept probably reflects what the Mini came to be seen as over time, rather than what Issigonis meant it to be.

Thanks. Is it so important for the MINI to be as radical as the original Mini at launch? I, and many others, don’t think so.

Firstly, the game has moved on and there are many new cars on the market which are far more radical than the Mini ever was i.e. Leaf, Prius and Zoe.

Secondly, the original Mini stayed in production virtually unchanged apart for some retrograde decisions such as abandoning hydrolastic suspension. Hence, by the 1970s, the Mini was no longer radical and, by 2000, it was a museum piece.

Thirdly, the MINI has succeeded where the original failed – it makes a profit. Let us not forget that, unless a car manufacturer makes a profit, they go to the wall – that is exactly what happened to BMC and, ultimately, to MG Rover.

Finally, as for the allegations about BMW, they continue to invest in manufacturing in this country, they employ a significant workforce in Oxford and Swindon and they continue to develop the MINI to ensure that it remains a popular product. Much of the damage was done to ARG under the rule of BAe and the previous management of BL.

@Ianto
We all want to own cars, we all want to keep our mobility, but this means that we need radical answers from manufacturers.

Climate change and peak oil aren’t going to go away – if the buying public feel that the Mini doesn’t need to be radical, then might that be a sad reflection of how an automotive icon has been reduced to a mere trinket and that BMW are applying the wrong values to it?

Indeed, if the current new car market is a reflection of how ‘the game has moved on’, then it appears that – as far as manufacturers’ mollifying offerings are concerned – the tail is very much wagging the dog.

We need manufacturers to do better. We need cars that ride properly – we don’t all live on lovely smooth racetracks.

I agree completely on the ride issue, but it seems that the motoring hacks like a stiff/sporty suspension and their words tend to influence what we buy.

Personally, I prefer a softer ride which can smooth out the post-winter pot holes and always look for a car which provides this.

The Rover 400 was very good at this, but the car I replaced it with (a Renault Scenic) was a shocker and I felt every bump. I have now switched to a Saab as this provides a much more comfortable ride.

Regarding radicalism in auto design, I am not sure that the British public actually like it, as I recall that the Mini was not a sales success initially and the Ford Sierra certainly had its fair share of critics when it was launched.

I am much more hopeful that, under the custodianship of BMW, MINI will eventually offer alternative propulsion methods that meet the climate challenges that we are all facing.

Ianto :
Regarding radicalism in auto design, I am not sure that the British public actually like it, as I recall that the Mini was not a sales success initially and the Ford Sierra certainly had its fair share of critics when it was launched.

Leslie :
It is still bigger on the outside and smaller on the inside than a “classic” then.

Yes, of course it is but we are all knowledgeable and sensible enough to know that the packaging abilities of 1959 are not possible considering the safety requirements or equipment levels expected these days. BINI customers would love the sound of a thrashy A-Series and no radio (as Issigonis intended) over the eclectic tunes coming from their iPod interface.

I am a huge classic Mini fan and, to be fair, was always a little disappointed with the way which the BINI went despite owning an 02 plate Cooper, which was a fabulous car, some years ago. However, compared to the concepts which preceded it (the ACV 30 which was an awesome styling exercis and the Spiritual and Spiritual Too which were not only cute and funky but genuinely clever), it seemed to miss the spirit of the original.

This Rocketman Concept is relevant, quirky, handsome, desirable but, most importantly, it shows an acceptance from the BMW board of what a MINI should be and a gives a nod to the original more than any of the BINI range before it. Well done!

To those who say that old Mini fans would only be happy if we saw a return of the old Mini, with A Series engine, that is absolute nonsense. As for Martins comments (post 14) about Bini-bashers not having bought the old one- by the time I could have afforded a new (old) Mini they were out of production, and besides, the heyday of the old Mini was in the ’60s and ’70s- and as I was born in ’69 I wasn’t old enough to have driven one at a time when that car was really relevent. By the time I had more money in my pocket (and a driving license) a Ford Focus Mk1 was the car that ticked all of the boxes for me (and it was a mighty fine car to boot). A small-dimensioned city car wasn’t really required, as I live in a city that does not have the kind of traffic and parking issues that larger cities have, and I needed something that would be more comfortable on indifferently surfaced Cotswold back roads- ride quality was not something the old Mini was noted for! The old Mini lacked a hatchback, and couldn’t tow a large enough trailer, so was useless for when I was doing up my house. If I had the funds to run a second car, then an old Mini would have been high on the list.

In regard to the packaging issue, I’ve always maintained that the basic Bini was far too wide- which was not dictated by safety issues, since many manufacturers made smaller, safe cars. The real unsung hero of how to package a small car was the much-maligned (unfairly, methinks) Audi A2. That car was too expensive (blame the badge and the aluminium construction), had over-reactive ESP, and the diesel engined version was rather under-geared and vocal, but it had character in spades, as well as very clever packaging. The diesel engined variant was also considerably faster than Audi claimed for it!

Had BMW used that as a starting point, or come up with a genuinely imaginitive and original way of repackaging a small car, and was much less of a poorly executed pastiche of the old, then it would have been a much more interesting vehicle. I was going to refrain from posting anti-Bini opinions, but they will keep introducing ever more ludicrous variants, like the above, and a lot of pro-Bini fans post contentious comments.

Apart from the clever extending boot platform (well, it would be clever if they’d given any thought to weather-proofing it when open- is it really beyond BMW to come up with a simple fitted tonneau- or is it just intended as another impractical gimmick?), but the rear lights are ridiculous, and invite vandalism. What is the virtue of using ‘projector technology’ for them when simple LEDs would suffice? Like the daftly-named ‘iDrive’ system fitted to other BMWs, it is intended to showcase how clever they are by using excessively complex solutions to straightforward (or even non-existant) problems. As for the interior styling- I do hope they don’t release anything that tacky onto the market.

It isn’t enough for the car to drive well (as it probably does- though I’d question the ride quality based on those ‘rubber band’-like low profiles. It really needs to justify the level of hype surrounding it.

For those reading who tend to throw a wobbly when I’ve posted comments re the Bini, I’ve never claimed to have driven one, and my comments are about the styling and marketing (as always). Since there are those who sniff the air for an excuse to take offense (and who haven’t taken the trouble to actually read my posts properly), I am not making any reference to those who drive Binis, even though I’ve been careful not to use sweeping statements that apply to all Bini drivers in previous posts.